Rumblings are coming out of WWE and TNA that make it seem like the two companies could soon have much more than a short-term crossover relationship.
This week’s episode of NXT delivered one of the most fascinating moments of 2024 when WWE again opened the forbidden door and let TNA Knockouts champion Jordynne Grace walk onto WWE television and challenge NXT women’s champion Roxanne Perez for her belt at the promotion’s Battleground event.
The moment was a shocking followup to Grace’s surprise entrance at the 2024 Royal Rumble and had wrestling fans wondering about what’s going on between WWE and TNA Wrestling. Soon after this week’s NXT came to a close, reports claimed that the two companies could continue this storyline a bit further than the June 9 event, and talent from NXT could potentially appear on TNA content.
TNA is in a bit of a transition period. In February, the company shockingly parted ways with long-time leader Scott D’Amore just when the promotion seemed to be on an upward swing. And while there have been denials that TNA’s parent company Anthem Media Group would sell, some major changes or pivots in strategy could be coming soon.
On Friday, Wrestling Observer reporter Dave Meltzer reported that there is “a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes” in TNA and Robert Evans — a key member of the creative team — has resigned from the company. Furthermore, TNA has no events scheduled past the first week in August.
Meltzer also added that “the timing of everything with the issues in TNA makes it very interesting” that this unexpected relationship has all of a sudden developed between the company formerly known as Impact Wrestling and WWE.
Did Shawn Michaels add fuel to the fire of deeper ties between WWE and TNA?
Yet, the curious rumblings don’t end there. Ahead of next weekend’s NXT event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, head of creative Shawn Michaels interviewed with KTNV Channel 13 in Las Vegas and said, “It’s a very exciting time to be a wrestling fan and we’ll see how much of it culminates at Battleground on June 9. I’m sure a lot of things are going to be going on that night, so I wouldn’t miss it.”
Interestingly, he pointed specifically at Battleground — where Grace vs. Perez will happen — as the night where there “are things that we’ve wanted to see, why not see if we can bring you guys one of these things you’ve been looking for.” Considering the rumors about issues backstage in TNA at the same time as a new relationship with WWE, one has to wonder if a more in-depth partnership might be developing between the two companies.
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WWE certainly has the money to buy TNA, however, these are very different times, and developing relationships with various companies to keep the business strong, give their roster of performers another place to perform, and avenues for future talent seems like a plan for the regime of Paul Levesque and Nick Khan. Interesting days are ahead.
